Diamond Dick, Jr.'s Call Down; or, The King of the Silver Box — page 14: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

—_ 12 DIAMOND DICK LIBRARY. No. 1th ——, ee on tn order to reach the shaft-house it was necessary to | This brought his head above the edge of the rock strata, pass between two upright bowlders of huge dimensions, ‘and he could make use of his knife in digging footholds seyirated by only a few feet, that would support him in his attempt to reach the mouth ‘Help! help! Oh, will not some one come to my aid?’’ | of the pit. This time the voice had a distinctly feminine ‘tone as it| As he was diligently working he heard a sound above fell upon Handsome Harry’s ears. his head and looked up. He had a wild thought that perhaps Miss Bicknell might! Hesawa sight that appalled him, lion-hearted though have fallen into the Don’s hands in spite of all that he and! he was. Berti: had done to prevent it. Bolivar had been joined by a second man, and both were Handsome Harry dashed on, drawing his revolvers as! engaged in an attempt to loosen one of the bowlders and he ran. topple 1t into the prospect hole. In between the bowlders he rushed, and then, just ashe} ‘Stop that, you miserable coyotes!’’ howled Handsome struck the space between, the ground gave way beneath; Harry. ‘‘Let up, I tell ye, or I’! putacouple of bullets his feet, and he grabbed wildly at the air as he disap-!whar they’ll do the world the most good.”’ peared from sight. “How kin ye fire more’n twelve shots f10m two revol- The Californian did not fall far, and he was upon his! vers, hey, pilgrim?’’ cried Bolivar, looking down. ‘‘I feet in a moment. heerd ye shootin’ twelve times, an’ he can’t fool us a Locking around and above him, he discovered that he | little bit. We’re goin’ ter drop a stone inter that hole or was in a hole some twenty feet deep. busta gallus tryin’.’”’ It was amine located, undoubtedly, by some speculator; Pulling with all their strength upon the rope with which who had done only sufficient assessment work on his claim|the two outlaws were seeking to effect their purpose, to hold it. Handsome Harry saw, to his dismay, that the bowlder was “It’s a trick,’’ grumbled Handsome Harry, who realized | steadily giving way. | at once that the top of the hole had been covered over for} Slowly, inch by inch, it was drawn down toward the the purpose of deceiving and trapping him. mouth of the pit. . The sides of the pit were smooth and vertical, so that it} In afew moments its centre of gravity would certainly was impossible to escape save by arope from above or a|be displaced, and it would fall into the hole with irre. ladder from beneath. sistible force. . | Suddenly a voice hailed the Californian, and a face| Handsome Harry could only cling to the side of the pit eered down at him. and watch the terrific efforts of his enemies above, ‘*Hello thar, Han’sum Harry! Yer ina worse hole than} All at once he gave vent to a wild shout for help. I was a little while ago.’’ Barely had the echoes of his voice died away when the The man was Bolivar. ; crack of a rifle reverberated among the rocks, and Bolivar Then, for the first time, Handsome Harry realized what | gave a howl and loosened his hold on the rope. a bad break he had made in leaving Bolivar in Evans’ Bolivar’s companion took to his heels at'once, ard lodgings. Bolivar himself would have done so but for a bullet in the “Oh, it’s you, is it? What did ye do this fer?”’ eg. . ‘‘Jest ter keep ye from helpin’ Diamond Dick, Jr., out| A few moments later another face peered over the of ascrape. Say, ye gi’mea couple of purty stiff blows. | mouth of the shaft. but I wasn’t knocked so senseless as ye thought—not bya} ‘Hello, down there!” cried a familiar voice. good ways. I jest laid thar an’ heerd everythin’ ye said;| ‘‘Bertie, by thunder!’’ exclaimed Handsome Harry. then, while-ye lost time goin’ to the hotel I rushed out this way an’ laid this little trap fur ye. Cunnin’, wasn’t it?” ; CHAPTER VII. ‘“You'll be a dern sight cunnin’er an’ show a heap more sense if you pull me out o’ yere without loss of time.’’ ‘‘Don’t you think it!” After. being left alone in the cage and satisfying himself “Tf you don’t pull me out of yere inside of ten minits, | that escape was impossible, Bertie leaned against the bars I'll sw’ar ter camp on yer trail when 1 do git out an’ never | and did some deep thinking. let up on ye until I play even.”’ Could it be that Evans had lured him into a trap by ‘‘You can’t ring in no bluff of that kind on me! I’ve got|sending him out to Spitzer’s prospect hole disguised asa too much sand in my craw ter knuckle under to the Sar- | farmer? pint of Siskiyou. Besides, wharever I go I don’t leave any Were the cashier and the King of the Silver Box work- trail—it’s dangerous. I’m goin’ ter leave ye down thar. | ing together? So long, oleman!” . Diamond Dick, Jr., could not bring hims Then with a loud laugh, Bolivar’s head disappeared | this. - . nib ‘tovbelisye from the brink of the pit. A proficient reader of human character, as he was. he ‘“‘Confound the luck!’’ muttered Handsome Harry, look-|could not understand how he could be so deceived in ing at his watch, “‘it’s half-past seven now, an’ if I don’t) Evans’ face, if the young fellow had acted a treacherous git out o’ yere by eight I can’t do anythin’ fer Bertie.” part. | In the hope that some passer-by might hear the sounds} Bertie’s reflections were suddenly cut short by sounds CONCLUSION. and come to his assistance, Handsome Harry exploded | proceeding from the other room. every cartridg2 in his revolvers. He listened intently. In vain, however. A smell of burning wood was borne to his nostrils. and Then he began to yell at the top of his voice, but he|he saw a red flame creeping along the wall of the cabin soon gave this up and seated himself on a block of granite. | just where the partition ran through that divided the in- ‘“Yere I am,’’ he muttered, disgustedly, ‘‘an’ how the} terior into two rooms. blazes am I goin ie ae aap The shanty had been fired! _ His eye wandered up the side of the pit. | Was it possible that Ortego could ha The vein of ‘granite ended 4 few yards above his head, dastardly a deed? ° ve been guilty of so and from there upward to the top the sides were composed; The smoke increased. of earth and gravel. The flames grew denser and hotter, and Diamond Dick Drawing his revolver from his belt, Handsome Harry | Jr., knew that unless he could break from the cage or stood on the bowlder and reached upward as far as he; summon assistance to his aid, he would be suffocated and could, thrusting the barrel of the forty-four into a crevice! burned to death. up to the trigger-guard; then, clutching this with one| Throwing himself against the door, he brought all his hand, he slowly and carefully drew himself up the uneven | strength to bear upon it. side of the shaft and thrust his second revolver into| He was powerless, however, to force it open. another crevice. The hot air became so stifling, finally, that he was After this, by steady and skillful work, he managed to obliged to throw himself down in the cage and lay his lips clamber up until he could set his feet on the revolvers. against the floor in order to breathe at all. CONIC MHOOKS. EO >